Shoot your way to constant witty humour, get high on the lengthy yet compelling dialogues and a deliciously gruesome groin-biting, knife-stabbing finale featuring a ferocious dog and a flamethrower.
Just how does Quentin Tarantino spike up his love for every kind of gory, cheap, stylish, pulp, iconic, cult cinema into his movies with a conviction and passion that few contemporary directors can match?
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is Tarantino’s enthralling celebratory exhibition of his fondness for the late sixties era of TV specials and countless gun-dueling, hat-tipping westerns.
Though nothing much occurs in terms of story until the final kick-ass burst, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is consistently exciting and engaging.
The actor, his double
Once upon a time in Los Angeles, 1969, reside down-in-the-dumps actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his body double, stuntman, faithful friend and suspected wife-murderer. A practical, matter-of-fact business relationship on the surface, there is genuine friendship between the two.
Meanwhile, Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), an upcoming full-of-life actress, moves next door to Dalton with her partner, the young director Roman Polanski (Rafał Zawierucha). The Sharon Tate bits are few and don’t stand out, except for a quiet, effective scene of a spellbound Tate seeing herself on the big screen.
The media accusations and resultant controversy about Sharon Tate’s and Roman Polanski’s (based on real-life) characters will make another blog post. It is best advised to keep aside the prejudices of media-churned politics when you catch up on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Moving on…
The subtle Caprio-Pitt chemistry
Caprio and Pitt complement each other with ace performances in the beautifully spaced out screenplay (‘lead stars playing good boys, most of the time’ tone doesn’t help), their parallel stories intertwining in the duo’s rides to work and back home.
Dalton’s insecurities, chain-smoking frenzy, self-pity, and cry-baby insecurities create many compelling laugh-out-loud drama moments.
The ‘sure-footed intelligent child artist with Dalton’ scene is a Tarantino gem. Another standout hoot-inducer is Booth’s showdown with the martial arts screen legend Bruce Lee (Mike Moh).
Superb supporting cast
Depth and insight have never been the maverick director’s strength. So Dalton’s restless struggle to regain the lead actor billing never gets melancholic.
Booth wears his heart of gold unfailingly, an out-of-job stuntman with no visible frustrations. Booth may well be a Marvel superhero loaded with such sleek, faultless qualities.
No character is too small or insignificant for Tarantino.
Margot Robbie does well in whatever little she gets to work on. Margaret Qualley, Julia Butters, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell, Mike Moh, Damian Lewis, Al Pacino and the rest of the supporting cast make brief, memorable appearances.
Why do I love ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’?
What I love about this Tarantino film is how he gets the small talk, music, situations and atmosphere dead right, again.
Here is a man drunk on movies and he burps them up so evocatively scene after scene, it is a constant movie-goer’s joy to absorb and relish.
The extended horse-riding sequences followed by the no-show aftermath is skilled understated storytelling.
Booth walking up to his old friend’s room at the ranch, what slow simmer suspense there. It takes outlandish, unreal talent to make a charred body screaming in a swimming pool funny.
Movie and cultural references are riddled like bullet marks all over. A knowledgeable audience will enjoy the little touches. Get back to me for a high five if you laugh at the wicked ‘Wilkes Booth’ joke…
The Manson Family murders (alternate take)
A cathartic wicked re-imagined head-bashing of a series of brutal real-life murders makes for a wild, cruel, mad climax.
A similar plot twist worked so shockingly in Tarantino’s superbly entertaining Nazi-killing drama Inglourious Basterds (2009) and works good here too.
“I’m the Devil, and I came to do the devil’s business,” is a chilling line one of the real Manson family murderers actually spoke, rendered in the movie with cheeky bold mockery! There is a sweet ‘what if’ moment when Dalton and Sharon Tate finally meet.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood review
Go for this warm popcorn-munch inducing, ‘best of escapist cheap thrills’ mingled with classic cinema cuts experience.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a funny (plus gory violent climax) must-see big screen entertainer for adult audiences.
